JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's basketball closes out the month of January with a pair of home games against ASUN West Division competition. The Ospreys meet with the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears Thursday, Jan. 27 at 5 p.m. before returning to play less than 48 hours later against Lipscomb Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.

Thursday's game was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. before being moved to 5 p.m.

Saturday's game against Lipscomb is sponsored by Performance Orthopedics and Spine and is National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
 

UNF vs. UCA | UNF Arena - Jan. 27, 5 p.m.
Game 19	Thursday, Jan. 27 - 5 p.m.
Series History	First Meeting
Social Media / Coverage	@OspreyWBB | #SWOOPLife | @UNFOspreys

 

UNF vs. Lipscomb | UNF Arena - Jan. 29, 2 p.m.
Game 20	Saturday, Jan. 29 - 2 p.m.
Series History	UNF leads, 20-11
Social Media / Coverage	@OspreyWBB | #SWOOPLife | @UNFOspreys

SERIES HISTORY
-UNF and UCA are meeting for the first time ever and first time as ASUN opponents. 
-North Florida and Lipscomb are familiar foes, having already gone up against each other 31 times. 
-North Florida leads the series 20-11 and is 15-11 against the Bisons as ASUN competitors. 
-UNF is 11-5 against Lipscomb when playing in Jacksonville. 
-North Florida and Lipscomb split a pair of games at the UNF Arena last February. UNF won 74-57 before Lipscomb responded with a 74-70 win Feb. 21, 2021.

LAST TIME VS. Lipscomb (Feb. 21, 2021)
JACKSONVILLE,, Fla. - After a strong second quarter and taking a lead into halftime, North Florida women's basketball did not have an answer for Lipscomb as the Bisons surged in the second half to grab a 74-70 win Sunday at UNF Arena.
The loss snaps a five-game win streak and moves North Florida (11-8, 10-3 ASUN) into third place in the ASUN standings.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT (UCA and Lipscomb)
Central Arkansas: The Sugar Bears are 7-10 and 2-4 in ASUN play as a first-year member in the ASUN Conference ... UCA is out of Conway, Ark., joining Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky as first-year members to the ASUN Conference ... the Sugar Bears are coming off a 61-53 win against Lipscomb, garnering the program's first-ever ASUN home win ... UCA goes as Lucy Ibeh goes ... the 6-0 junior forward from Lagos, Nigeria is leading the team in scoring (14.8 PPG), rebounding (10.4 RPG) and steals (2.3 SPG) ... UCA is led by veteran head coach Sandra Rushing who has been a head coach since the age of 24 ... she is in her 10th season with UCA and has been at the helm for 30 years across collegiate women's basketball.
Lipscomb: The Bisons are 8-10 and 3-2 in ASUN play heading into Thursday's meeting with Jacksonville in Swisher Gymnasium ... The Bisons took care of Kennesaw State by eight in their last game Jan. 22 ... Lipscomb doesn't have one go-to offensive player, but rather has seven different players that average at least 7.1 points per game ... Blythe Pearson leads that group with 9.0 points per contest ... 6-3 redshirt-senior Dorie Harrison out of Nashville, Tenn., is the team's leading rebounder at 5.6 rebounds per game ... she is averaging 1.3 blocks per contest to pace the Bisons.

AN OSPREY WIN WOULD...
-Bring UNF back over the .500 watermark for the first time since Jan. 11. 
-Make UNF 1-0 in the all-time series. 
-Give the Ospreys a 7-2 mark at home this year.
-Bring UNF to 3-0 on Thursdays this season.

THURSDAY, THE DAY FOR THE OSPREYS
UNF is a perfect 3-0 when playing on Thursday this season. North Florida last played at FAMU on a Thursday, winning by 10 Dec. 30 in Tallahassee.

LAST TIME OUT
RICHMOND, Ky. -  The perfect combination of efficient offensive play in the paint and a pesky defense that forced 21 turnovers added up to propel UNF women's basketball (9-9, 2-4 ASUN) to a 78-64 road victory at Eastern Kentucky (10-9, 3-3 ASUN) Saturday, Jan. 22.

North Florida shot 52.9 percent from the floor, notched 12 steals and outscored the Colonels 34-20 in the paint to give the Ospreys their second consecutive victory and first road-conference win of the season.

WINNING FORMULA
UNF is 7-2 when suiting up with the starting five featuring Ally Knights, Jaida Bond, Jazz Bond, Rhetta Moore and Emma Broermann.

100
After appearing in Saturday's game, Erin Jones became the third active Osprey to reach the 100-games played milestone. Jones joins Jazz Bond and Rhetta Moore in that category.

STAT SHEET STUFFING
Jazz Bond's numbers over the past three games have been stellar, but just more of what we've grown to expect from the forward. During UNF's last two wins, Bond is averaging 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. She notched her fifth double-double of the year Jan. 15 against Jacksonville.

YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED
UNF has been all over its opponents when it comes to blocked shots. UNF has swatted 92 shots, already one more than all of last season. The Ospreys rank 17th in the country in blocks and 19th in blocks/game at 5.1. 

UNF's 5.1 blocks/game is a UNF season record. North Florida is eyeing a program single season blocks record, standing just 35 swats shy of the mark.

Jazz Bond has blocked 43 shots this season, the fourth season she's racked up at least 40 blocks during her UNF tenure. She is the only Osprey to have reached that feat. She is 44 blocks shy of her all-time UNF record of 87, set in the 2019-20 campaign. 

UNF leads the league in blocks and blocks/game, as does Jazz Bond. Bond is 10th in the country in total bocks.

AT THE BREAK
UNF is 9-2 when leading at the break and 0-7 when trailing. 

MAGIC NUMBER
UNF scored over 70 points for the first time in ASUN play during its 78-64 win at EKU. North Florida is 6-1 when scoring at least 70 points and 53-9 during head coach Darrick Gibbs' tenure when reaching that benchmark.